Car-coupling.



- Patented Feb. l3, i900. J. WILLISON.

CAR COUPLING.

(Application filed Se pt 16, 1899.

2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR {No ModeL) WITNESSES 00., Pum'oumo" wnsmmran, n. c

No. 643,58l. Patented Feb. 13, 1900.

J WILLISON CAR COUPLING.

(Appl t nfild Spt 1a 1899 2 Sheets$heet 2.

(No Model.)

WITNESSES Nrrnn STATES PATENT Prion".

JOHN W'ILLISON, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL MALLEABLE OASTINGS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

srncrrIcA'r'i'oN forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,581, dated February 13, 1900.

Application filed geptem'ber 16, 1899. Serial No. 730,745. (No model.)

To a-ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN WILLISON,

Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oar-Couplers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specific-ation, in which Figure 1 shows in sectional plan viewa pair of car-couplers coupled together and embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line II II' of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan View of one of the-couplers, partially broken away and showing the knuckle open. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section through one of the couplers, showing the lockingv device raised and supported in unlocked position, but with the knuckle not swung open. Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4, showing the parts in open position. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of the draw-bar, looking upward and showing the double fulcrum 9 9. tion plane of Figs. 4 and 5 is in the line IV IV of Figs. 1 and 6. Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the angled locking and'openin g piece and the double fulcrum 9 9'. Fig. 8 is a top I plan view of the locking and opening device.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the looking and opening device in engagement with the double fulcrum and tipped thereon. Fig. 10 is a vertical section on the line X X of Fig. 4, showing how the locking device is-set automatically in unlocked position.

My invention is an improvement especially applicable to the coupler known as the Tower coupler,described in Letters Patent of O. A. Tower, No. 541,446, granted on June 18, 1895.

In the drawings, 2 represents the couplerhead, which in general may be of usual type. It has two jaws 3 and 4 and is provided with an internal cavity or recess which extends laterally into the jaw 4 and is adapted to permit the coupling-knuckle 5 to swing upon its pivot-pin 6. This knuckle is formed with an outer arm I) and an inner and preferably longer arm or tail 0, which project substantially at right angles to each other, and the rear side of the tail is formed with a hook d. In order to hold the knuckle in locked posi- The section, (the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2,) I employ an angled locking and opening piece set within the coupler-head. The upper and transversely-extending member or aunt of this angled piece reaches over the tail of the knuckle. Its dependent block or head 7 is adapted to fit in front and to, lock the knuckle when in closed position, and its dependent arm f, which extends downwardly at the rear of the knuckle and is substantially upright when the knuckle is in locked position, passes through a guide-hole g in the floor of the coupler. When the knuckle is locked,the head 7 of the angled piece fits between the frontside of the knuckle-tail and a shoulder 72. onthe coupler-head, but when the brakeman raises the angled piece by a link or lifting-rod 8 it is raised above the knuckle and out of its path of'motion. When the knuckle is looked, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and in dotted lines in Fig. 4, the membere is above the tail of the knuckle, the head 7 fits in front of it and bears against the shoulder h,

and the arm f fits within thehole g and is within the hook (Z of the tail. The angled piece being then braced by the fitting of itsarm within the hole and by the bearing of its head against the shoulder effectually prevents the knuckle from swinging open.

To release the knuckle and permit it to be swung into'the open position shown in Fig. 3, the brakeman raises the link 8, and thus lifts the angled piece until the end of its head 7 clears the tail of the knuckle and passes above the horizontal path of its motion, as shown by full lines in Fig. 4, whereupon the knuckle can be swung open either by direct action of the hand or by continuing the liftingof the angled piece until a notch 2' on the upper side of its member 6 engages projeeting ribs or shoulders 9 9 on the couplerhead, Figs. 4, 5, 7, and 9, whereupon the an- .gled piece will tip in a vertical plane in a diwill drop upon and will be supported by the floor of the coupler-head, and it will remain in this position, as shown in Fig. 5, until the knuckle is swung back into locked position by the act of coupling or otherwise. The rear side of the knuckle-tail will then engage the arm fand will move the angled piece, so as to carry said arm back toward a vertical position until its lower end comes into register with the hole 9, and then the angled piece will drop by gravity, its arm fentering the hole and its head 7 adjusting itself in front of the knuckle-tail and locking the knuckle, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and by dotted lines in Fig. & and at the coupler-head B in Fig. 2.

As described in said Patent No. 541,446, I form on the under and forward side of the head f the angled piece a bevel or inclined surface 7' and at the upper and rear corner of the head a parallel bevel or incline 70. These bevels are so formed as to match and correspond to parallel surfaces m and n, which are situate at the sides of the coupler-head and form a short groove or passage within which the head 7 may travel in its upward and downward motions. The consequence is that when the angled piece is lifted for the purpose of unlocking the knuckle its head does not move in a single vertical plane, but being guided by the beveled surfaces on and it moves also forward, turning with a radial motion on the axis of the dependent arm f. This radial motion continues until the initial lifting of the angled piece has been completed and until its member c has been brought into contact with the shoulder 9. In like manner when the angled piece is dropped in the act of locking the knuckle the engagement of the surfacej on the head 7 with the surface m on the coupler-head causes the member 6 to turn backwardly with a radial motion on the axis of the vertical arm f, and thus to move its head toward the throat of the coupler. An important function of these guiding-surfaces m and n, as described in the said patent, is to oppose resistance to the free upward motion or jumping of the angled piece and prevent its accidental displacement.

In my presentimprovement instead of making an elongated fulcrum or shoulder 9 on a line which is horizontal and parallel with the longitudinal axis of the draw-bar, as shown in the drawings of the said Patent No. 541,446, I incline the same at an oblique angle to the longitudinal axis of the draw-bar and preferably also to the horizontal plane thereof, and I also prefer to make the fulcrum double by providing two shoulders 9 9', which converge toward a common centerand which are adapted to be engaged successively by the angled opening device, so that its direction will be changed during its opening movement. The consequence is that after the angled opening device has risen above the inclined surfaces m and n and engages the said shoulders it will swing thereon in a direction which progressively tends forwardly, all without substantial friction on the tail of the knuckle and without substantial rubbing of the angled piece against the interior surfaces of the coupler-head, which would create excessive friction and would entirely defeat the object of my invention. These motions are also effected without substantial lateral motion of the head 7 during the act of moving the knuckle, which lateral motion, if permitted, would make the device impractical by taking up too much space in a longitudinal direction in the coupler-head.

Referring to the drawings, 9 9 represent the converging ribs or shoulders which constitute the double fulcrum at the top of the interior of the coupler-head, being set at an oblique angle to the longitudinal axis of the coupler and preferably also to the horizontal plane thereof. I also make the notch i (usual in the Tower coupler) with two branches 6 i, constitutingadouble notch. converge so as to correspond with the shoulders 9 9, and the forward branch 1' is deeper at and toward the rear end than is the other notch 1 \Vhen the angled piece is lifted, its notch 2' first engages the shoulder or fulcrum 9 and the angled piece tips thereon, its tailf moving in a plane substantially at right angles to the said shoulder, and as such motion progresses the base of the notch t" engages the forward shoulder 9', and during the remainderthe latter part-of the travel of the angled-opening piece the tailfmoves in a plane at right angles to the shoulder 9'namely, more nearly in the direction of length of the draw-bar. The operation is as nearly frictionless as possible, and the power required to operate the coupler-openingdevice atallparts of its motion is reduced to a minimum. The front side of the head 7 of the angled piece is cut away at '7, so as not to make frictional contact with the side wall of the recess within the coupler-head in which it is set, and the operation of my invention, by reason of its inclined fulcrum, prevents frictional contact of the head and the other parts of the angled piece with the knuckle, and thusrenders the coupler very easy to operate.

Throughout the motion of the angled piece its head 7 does not have to move laterally forward or backward with the coupler to any material extent, but simply turns on its axis, and I thus secure all the advantages of my invention without taking up undue space in the coupler-head.

\Vithin the scope of my broader claims many changes may be made without departure fromthe broad principle of my invention, which is the inclined elongated fulcrum on which the opening device can turn.

In Fig. 10 I illustrate a device (not claimed in this application) which I have invented for setting automatically a locking device in unlocked position, as when the coupler is coupled to an adjoining car, so that when the cars are drawn apart the knuckles may swing These branches IIO open without need of the trainman again performing the operation of unlocking. For this purpose I form a slightly-raised seat g just back of the hole g-i. 6., in a line therefrom which is in the direction of the length of the coupler-and I attach the lifting-chain 8 to the member 6, so that when the angled piece is raised from the hole its arm f will tip slightly in a backward direction and will rest on the seat g, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 10, on which it will be supported in unlocked position, with its head 7 resting on the inclined way in the coupler-head and elevated sufficiently to permit the opening of the knuckle. When the knuckle is next swung open, as by the separation of the cars, the tail of the knuckle, which is shaped appropriately for that purpose, engages the head 7 of the locking-piece and moves it sufficiently to unseat the end of the arm f from the seat g and to cause it to rest upon the floor of the coupler at the side of the hole, as shown. by dotted lines in Fig. 5, and in the normal path of motion of the arm f to and from the hole.

When the knuckle is closed, its tail engagesthe arm f of the angled piece and moves it back from the position last described until its end comes into register with the hole 9, whereupon it drops into the hole and restores the parts into locked position by bringing the head 7 in front'of the tail of the knuckle;

1. A car-couplerhaving a movable opening device and an elongated fulcrum in the coupler-head on which it turns, said fulcrum being inclined obliquely to the longitudinal axis of the coupler whereby a forward tendency is given to the motion of the opening device; substantially as described.

2. A car-coupler having a movable opening device and an elongated fulcrum in the coupler-head on which it turns, said fulcrum being inclined to the longitudinal axis of the coupler, and inclined also to the horizontal plane of the coupler; substantially as described. I

3. A car-coupler having a movable knuckle-opening device and more than one fulcrum with which the same is adapted successively to engage, whereby the direction of motion is changed during movement of the opening device; substantially as described.

4. A car-coupler having a. movable knuckle-opening device and more than one ful-.

crum with which the same is adapted successively to engage, said fulcra being inclined to each other; substantially as described.

5. A car-coupler having a movable knuc= kle-opening device and more than one fulcrum with which the same is adapted succes= sively to engage, said fulcra being inclined to each other and converging; substantially as described.

6. A car-coupler having a movable knuc= kle-opening device and more than one ful-' crum with which the same is adapted successively to engage, and the said opening device having seats or grooves of unequal depth adapted to engage the fulcra successively; substantially as described.

7. A car-coupler having a movable knuckle-opening device and more than one fulcrum with which the same is adapted successively to engage, said fulcra being inclined to each other and consisting of elongated ribs or bars; substantially as described.

8. A car-coupler having a movable knuc= kle-opening device and more than one ful-'- crum with which the same is adapted s'uccessively to engage, said fulcra being inclined to each other and also inclined both to the horizontal and vertical planes of the coupler; substantially as described.

9. Acar-coupler having a movable opening device and an elongated fulcrum in the coupler-head on which'it turns, said fulcrum being inclined obliquely to the longitudinal axis of the'coupler, whereby a forward tendency is given to the motion of the opening device, said opening device being shaped, substantially as described, to avoid frictional contact with the recess in the coupler-head on which it moves. L g

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN \VILLISON.

I Witnesses:

D. W. CALL, OLIVER K. BROOKS. 

